This invention relates to apparatus for converting heat energy into mechanical energy.
Vast amounts of heat energy derived either from natural sources such as solar, geothermal and the like processes or by combustion of petroleum and other products, is currently being wasted. Although internal and external combustion engines, turbines, etc., have been developed to transform heat energy into mechanical power, such devices of which I am aware generally require utilization of heat of relatively high and consistent temperature. For example, internal and external combustion engines require combustion temperatures of several thousand degrees F, and much of this heat, particularly in the lower temperature ranges, is wasted. Internal combustion engines must be cooled and the heat extracted in such cooling is generally wasted, as are the exhaust gases. In steam and other external combustionn engines, much of the heat required to generate steam or other expandable fluids is generally wasted and passes through an exhaust system into the atmosphere.